What Is Dwelling Coverage?
Buying a home is an investment. We can help you protect it by making sure you get the right
homeowners insurance. Dwelling coverage is the part of your homeowners insurance policy that helps cover the costs to repair or rebuild your home after it’s damaged by fire, smoke, vandalism and more. This coverage helps pay costs to repair or rebuild your home if it’s damaged in a covered loss like fire, lightning or smoke. It helps protect your home and your attached structures.
With dwelling coverage, your walls, electrical wiring, plumbing, heating and air conditioning are all covered when a covered loss occurs.
Learn more about home dwelling coverage by calling us at
888-413-8970 today.
What Is Covered by Dwelling Insurance Coverage?
A few examples of what’s typically covered in a homeowners insurance policy include damage caused by:2
- Fire
- Lightning
- Hail
- Vehicles
- Smoke
- Vandalism
- Theft
- Weight of ice, snow or sleet
- Accidental discharge or overflow of water from plumbing or HVAC system
- Freezing of pipes
Dwelling insurance covers the structure of your home and its built-in features, like the:
- Attached garage
- Chimney
- Front porch
- Built-in appliances
What Is Not Covered by Dwelling Insurance Coverage?
A typical homeowners insurance policy does not help cover flood damage. That’s why you’ll need
flood insurance to keep your home protected in case of water damage. The dwelling coverage part of your home insurance policy won’t cover structures that are detached from your home.
However, we offer other coverages to help protect your entire property. Some of these are:
What Is Considered Your Dwelling?
Technically speaking, a dwelling refers to the structure of your home and anything that is attached to it, like a porch. This definition does not include items that are not attached to the home’s structure, such as backyard sheds or detached garages.
How Much Dwelling Coverage Do I Need?
We’re often asked, “
How much homeowners insurance do I need?” Honestly, the amount varies from home to home. To make sure you have the right insurance to cover your home, you’ll want to choose the amount that would allow you to rebuild and replace 100% of it if it’s ever destroyed by a covered loss.
Another potential benefit of having 100% replacement cost coverage is that if your home is a complete loss, you may be eligible for additional coverage on top of what it’s insured for. The full replacement cost coverage option pays the whole price of rebuilding your home if it’s a total loss, up to 125% of your policy limits. In some states, there is also an option providing up to 150% of coverage limits depending on where you live.
The market value is what a buyer is willing to pay for your home and land in its current condition. Your home’s market value is also impacted by factors outside of your property, like your:
- Location or neighborhood’s desirability (e.g., waterfront)
- School system
- Distance from emergency services
- Distance to stores, restaurants and entertainment
- Local housing market
Your home’s replacement cost is the amount it would cost to rebuild your house on the existing property with materials of similar kind and quality. The cost of rebuilding your home usually includes materials needed to rebuild the physical structure, like your:
- Walls
- Ceilings
- Floors
- Windows
- Doors
- Roof leaks
- Mechanical and electrical systems
This total also includes the costs of:
- Construction labor
- Clean-up
- Debris removal
Our agents use a “costimater” that helps determine the replacement cost and can provide you a free estimate. The AARP
® Homeowners Insurance Program from The Hartford can be customized to help protect the investment you’ve made in your home, all at a price that fits your budget.
1 They can also explain more about how
recoverable depreciation works, which is the gap between replacement cost and actual cash value (ACV). To learn more, call us at
800-624-5578.
Dwelling Coverage Deductibles and Limits
Like many other types of insurance, dwelling insurance is subject to limits and deductibles. Determining your dwelling coverage limit is an important step in ensuring that you’re adequately protected.
Your dwelling coverage limit may also affect other coverage limits. An example of this is your other structures coverage limit, which is usually a percentage of your dwelling coverage limit.
We’re here to help you get the insurance protection you need.
Get a quote today to find out more about the discounts and benefits available to you.
Last Updated: September 16, 2022
2 Insurance Information Institute, "Which disasters are covered by homeowners insurance?”
